Politics

(KYIV, Ukraine) — Dozens of artillery systems supplied by the United States to Ukraine were not fitted with advanced computer systems, which improve the efficiency and accuracy of the weapons, ABC News has learned.

The M777 155mm howitzers are now being used by the Ukrainian military in its war with Russia.

The Pentagon did not deny that the artillery pieces were supplied without the computers but said it had received “positive feedback” from the Ukrainians about the “precise and highly effective” weapons.

That positive sentiment was echoed by a Ukrainian politician, who spoke to ABC News on condition of anonymity. However, the politician also expressed frustration that the artillery pieces had not been the fitted with the digital computer systems.

Artillery is currently playing a crucial role in the fighting raging in eastern Ukraine as Russia continues its offensive in that part of the country.

U.S. officials recently confirmed that all but one of the 90 howitzers promised to Ukraine had now been delivered, along with tactical vehicles used to tow them.

If fitted to a howitzer, the digital computer system enables the crew operating the weapon to quickly and accurately pinpoint a target.

Howitzers without a computer system can still be fired accurately, using traditional methods to calculate the angle needed to hit a target. Modern computer systems, however, rule-out the possibility of human error.

Why the artillery pieces supplied to Ukraine did not have the digital targeting technology installed is unclear. The Pentagon said it would not discuss individual components “for operational security reasons.”

The revelation about the lack of computer systems on the howitzers comes amid broader frustration in Ukrainian political circles that the U.S. has not yet supplied certain types of advanced weaponry.

To date, the U.S. and its allies have provided Ukraine with an impressive quantity and array of weapons including thousands of anti-tank missiles, thousands of anti-aircraft missiles, hundreds of armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers and hundreds of attack drones.

However, the Ukrainian government is currently lobbying the United States for multiple rocket launcher systems and western-made fighter jets, such as F16s.

Ukrainian politicians interviewed by ABC News said it was urgent that Ukraine received these types of weapons now, because they believe that Russia is vulnerable following a string of failures on the battlefield.

“Russia is very weak now. Their army is very demoralized,” said a Ukrainian politician.

“What we are saying is that we need all the multi-rocket-launcher systems now. This is the best time for us to get the Russians out of our country.”

“To do that, we need really good U.S. weapons,” the politician said.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has requested information from a sixth House Republican, Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, suggesting in a letter Thursday that he may be linked to a tour through parts of the Capitol on the day before the attack.

“We believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021,” Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., wrote in a letter to Loudermilk Thursday.

The letter comes in response to a Democratic House member’s request for Capitol security to investigate allegations that GOP lawmakers led reconnaissance tours around the Capitol complex ahead of the attack.

“In response to those allegations, Republicans on the Committee on House Administration — of which you are a Member — claimed to have reviewed security footage from the days preceding January 6th and determined that ‘[t]here were no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on.’ However, the Select Committee’s review of evidence directly contradicts that denial,” the letter to Loudermilk says.

The panel, which is looking to hold public hearings in June, suggested meeting with Loudermilk on the week of May 23.

In a statement, Loudermilk and Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, accused the committee of promoting a “verifiably false narrative.”

Loudermilk said that on Jan. 5, he met with a constituent’s family in a House office building, but never entered the Capitol Building. No member of the family was on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, or was investigated or charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, Loudermilk said in the statement.

The request for Loudermilk’s cooperation comes a week after committee issued subpoenas to five House Republicans — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas — after they refused to cooperate voluntarily with the panel.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House’s Democratic majority overcame some internal opposition to pass legislation on Thursday addressing high gas prices by cracking down on possible price gouging from oil companies.

The bill was approved along party lines in a vote of 217-207. Four Democrats — Texas’ Lizzie Fletcher, Jared Golden of Maine, Stephanie Murphy of Florida and Kathleen Rice of New York — joined all Republicans in the chamber in voting against the legislation.

The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, introduced by Reps. Kim Schrier, D-Wash., and Katie Porter, D-Calif., would give the president the authority to issue an energy emergency proclamation that would make it unlawful for companies to increase fuel prices to “unconscionably excessive” levels.

It would also expand the powers of the Federal Trade Commission to investigate alleged price gouging in the industry and would direct any penalties toward funding weatherization and low-income energy assistance.

“The problem is Big Oil is keeping supply artificially low so prices and profits stay high. Now I think that when the market is broken, that’s when Congress has to step in to protect American consumers,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a hearing on Monday. “And that’s what this bill does: It empowers the FTC to go after the gougers and empowers the agency to effectively monitor and report on market manipulation.”

Oil executives previously testified before Congress to address concerns about their prices but insisted it was the result of larger forces, including supply and demand.

The price gouging legislation faced stiff opposition from Republicans, who blame the Biden administration’s policies, including spending and pandemic-relief stimulus, for inflation. Republicans also renewed calls for more domestic energy production.

“If anybody is going to be sued for gouging, it should be the Gouger-in-Chief Joe Biden who has created this problem,” House GOP Whip Steve Scalise said on the House floor on Thursday. “Stop relying on foreign countries for our energy when we can make it here cleaner, better than anyone in the world and lower gas prices and address this problem. This bill doesn’t do it. We got to bring up the bills that actually fix the problem.”

Rep. Murphy broke with her party to join conservatives in voting against the measure, expressing concerns it didn’t address the root of the price increases.

“I think vilifying one sector doesn’t actually address the inflation issues that my constituents are facing,” Murphy told ABC News. “The possible net effect of this bill will be to actually strangle production at a time when we are desperate for additional production.”

The internal revolt came as Democrats are hoping to alleviate pain at the pump for consumers ahead of a consequential midterm election season.

“If you don’t support legislation to stop price gouging, you are for price gouging,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members during a whip meeting on Wednesday.

Though the legislation passed in the House, it faces a tough climb in the Senate. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised to bring the bill to the floor — though it has no pathway to passage without GOP support.

Lawmakers had discussed introducing other legislation to lower gas prices such as measures codifying a federal gas tax holiday. That proposal didn’t gain traction among Democratic leaders, like Pelosi, who argued consumers wouldn’t benefit.

“I think we need to start with something like this bill and see what we can do,” Rep. Porter told ABC News. “I think it is better to invest in those [gas tax holidays] through something like the infrastructure bill, which I supported.”

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(NEW YORK) — America’s main nuclear deterrent glides undetected under the oceans as it carries a cargo of ballistic missiles that will hopefully never be used.

Off the coast of Hawaii, ABC News visited the USS Maine, one of 14 Ohio Class U.S. Navy submarines capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

Measuring two football fields in length and weighing 18,000 tons, the massive submarine carries 20 Trident 2 D5 missiles capable of striking targets up to 4,000 miles away.

Each missile is capable of holding up to 12 nuclear warheads — one reason why these submarines are able to carry about 70% of the nation’s active nuclear arsenal allowed by the New START Treaty.

“I’d say it’s the most powerful force in the world right now,” Vice Adm. Bill Houston, the commander of the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Forces, told ABC News.

But in keeping with U.S. policy, Houston could neither confirm nor deny whether there were missiles with nuclear warheads aboard the submarine.

You can see more of Martha’s rare access inside the sub and exclusive reporting on America’s nuclear defense this Sunday on a special edition of “This Week.”

Developed at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the submarines have continued with their classified missions, serving as a key part of America’s nuclear triad that includes strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) housed in the western plains states.

Recent comments by Russian leaders about their strategic nuclear capabilities following the invasion of Ukraine have shined a spotlight on America’s nuclear deterrence mission.

Houston characterized comments by Russian leaders about Russia’s nuclear weapons capability as “very dangerous,” “irresponsible” and “unprofessional.”

“It gives more meaning to this mission,” said Houston. “But we view our mission as a peace mission, purely defensive is what we do.”

He added, “And so when they saber rattle, this deterrent here is meant to prevent that from occurring.”

A main part of why Ohio Class submarines are a powerful nuclear deterrent is because they are undetectable in vast stretches of ocean, making an adversary susceptible to a retaliatory strike should it carry out a strategic attack against the United States.

To stay hidden, the submarine will surface very rarely — if at all — during what could be a months-long patrol underwater.

“This submarine, once it’s underwater, it will not be detected,” said Houston. “It is the one portion of our deterrent that will always be available if needed.”

And maintaining that deterrent means that not even senior military leaders will know where the submarine is at any given time. That’s a privilege available only to the submarine’s senior leaders.

The crew will regularly train for the unthinkable, like the launch of nuclear-armed missiles in a retaliatory strike against a country that has carried out a strategic attack against the United States.

ABC News was allowed to witness a simulated launch exercise where redundancies are an integral security measure intended to ensure the validity of a presidential order to launch missiles.

“United States policy is not to aim our missiles at any adversary or any country,” said Cmdr. Darren Gerhardt. “If we said they’re targeted, they would be pointing to the spot in the ocean. They don’t go anywhere.”

Living with the Trident missiles is also a regular part of life for the 150 sailors on the submarine.

The sailors have to maneuver their way through hallways lined by 24 missile tubes that house ICBMs. The missiles are also located near the sleeping berths.

Crew members carry out their assignments in shifts with some gathering for breakfast at 3 a.m.

With the submarine operating hundreds of feet below the surface, the crew has little awareness about what is going on in the world. At times the submarine will come up to periscope depth to receive satellite signals for updates on what’s going on in the world. But that maneuver carries risk.

“But when I do come up to periscope depth that makes me vulnerable,” said Gerhardt. “So I have to minimize the amount of times I do that.”

And when the crew returns to their families, “we’re catching up on several months’ worth of information that we missed,” Gerhardt said.

Both Houston and Gerhardt said they’re used to this life under the sea.

“I would say this is where we’re more comfortable,” said Houston. “A pilot likes to be in the air. We like to be under the sea.”

Added Gerhardt, “This is our home.”

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(WASHINGTON) — When President Joe Biden arrives in Seoul on Friday, on his first trip to the region as president, he’ll be landing in a volatile region at a volatile time.

Biden will seek to shore up ties with regional allies and advance his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, but he’ll do so as the threat of another nuclear test from North Korea looms.

At the same time, U.S. allies South Korea and Japan continue to squabble over historical grievances, blocking a breakthrough in bilateral relations.

Northern neighbor

Increasingly bellicose North Korea continues to paint itself as heavily-armed nation that its foes, including superpowers, should think twice about tangling with.

Images last month released by the official Korean Central News Agency showed the country’s leader Kim Jong Un overseeing a spectacular night parade in Pyongyang with soldiers marching in perfect formation and ICBMs.

“If any forces attempt military confrontation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, they will be perished,” Kim reportedly vowed in a fiery speech.

Since 2021, North Korea has been steadily improving its missile technology, drastically increasing testing, including purported hypersonic missiles in January and a submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM in May, and what is believed to have been a successful intercontinental ballistic missile test launch.

It was the first of its kind in years and Kim might very well have more ICBMs fired off during Biden’s visit.

In what has become the new normal, each test launch typically garners perfunctory rebukes from the U.S. and its allies, with Japan predictably condemning the act, lodging complaints with the U.N., and then vowing to share information.

Unsettling signs

Signs indicate the North is restoring tunnels at its Punggye-ri testing site, where all six North Korean underground nuclear tests to date have been conducted. In 2018, Punggye-ri was famously dismantled “in a transparent manner” in front of the world’s media. Now in 2022, a U.S. official tells ABC News that “the facility at Punggye-ri is capable of testing a nuclear device in short order.”

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that U.S. “intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility that there will be either a further missile test, including long-range missile test, or a nuclear test, or frankly, both, in the days leading into, on, or after the president’s trip to the region.”

Sullivan said the U.S. was “preparing for all contingencies, including the possibility that such a provocation would occur while we are in Korea or in Japan.”

The Biden administration says the North “could be ready to conduct a test there as early as this month.”

Circling the wagons

Biden will visit both Japan and South Korea, two key regional allies with a history of icy relations. South Korea’s newly minted conservative president Yoon Seok-youl has called for a thaw.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said, “There has never been a time when strategic cooperation between the two nations, and between them and the United States, has been more necessary,” and says there is no time to waste in improving bilateral ties.

Despite the friendly overtures from the leaders of the two nations, experts say neither side is willing to make the first move to resolve the rows.

Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, told ABC News the calls for unity are music to Washington’s ears.

“The U.S. wants its allies to cooperate in coping with contemporary threats but they have remained divided over their shared past. Improving relations will be a difficult process because history is very politicized in both nations,” he said.

Kingston said the recent failures of the two countries to see eye-to-eye is a wake-up call for those who have hopes that they could overcome the colonial past. “They also battle over territory — the Dokdo/Takeshima islets — and whatever else is handy.”

Jaechun Kim, professor of international relations at South Korea’s Sogang University, also has doubts fences can easily be mended.

Despite President Yoon’s signaling the desire for closer relations with Japan, he walks a tightrope, Kim said.

“There is limit to which he can be proactive here because if you’re seen as compromising on ‘history’ issues toward Japan, that is politically suicidal in the Republic of Korea,” he told ABC News.

Kim said Japan and Korea will have to have to find common ground somewhere.

“We should not expect or push for a breakthrough on history issues. That’s not realistic,” he said. “Rather, the two countries will have to deepen cooperation on issues where their interests converge, issues such as economic engagement and maritime cooperation in Indo-Pacific, and trilateral security cooperation between ROK, Japan, and the U.S. in Northeast Asia to augment deterrence and defense against North Korea’s nukes and missiles.”

ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Senate voted on Thursday to pass an additional $40 billion in new aid for Ukraine, after President Joe Biden called on Congress last month to deliver the additional funding, to help counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion over the long term.

In his floor remarks before the 86 -11 vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted the significance of the package.

“By passing this aid package the Senate can now say to the Ukrainian people help is on the way: real help, significant help, help that could ensure the Ukrainian people are victorious,” he said.

With the House having passed the aid package earlier this month, it will now head next to Biden’s desk.

The aid package got broad bipartisan support with some Republican holdouts. It had been stalled for several days after Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s refusal to expedite to process.

In floor remarks before Thursday’s vote, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell promised a “big bipartisan landslide” and seemed to thumb his nose at concerns from Paul and other deficit hawks about the cost of the Ukraine bill.

“Anyone concerned about the cost of supporting a Ukrainian victory should consider the much larger cost should Ukraine lose,” McConnell said as he encouraged all members to join the “big bipartisan supermajority” voting to advance the aid package.

But Schumer went further, calling out the group of Republicans who he expects will vote against the aid package.

“It appears more and more MAGA republicans are on the same soft on Putin playbook that we saw used by former President Trump,” Schumer said.

“The MAGA influence on the Republican party is becoming all too large and all too dominant. We Americans all of us Democrats and Republicans cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand while Vladimir Putin continues his vicious belligerence against the Ukrainian people while he fires at civilian hospitals and targets and kills children and innocent people,” he said.

“But when Republicans — in significant number — oppose this package that is precisely the signal, we are sending to enemies abroad,” Schumer said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden welcomed Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to the White House on Thursday to discuss their historic bids to join NATO.

All three leaders called for swift acceptance of the applications amid resistance from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who announced Thursday that his country will oppose Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

“The bottom line is simple, quite straightforward,” Biden said in remarks in the Rose Garden. “Finland and Sweden make NATO stronger.”

The two nation’s formally submitted their applications on Wednesday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is about to enter its fourth month. Finland and Sweden said they made the decision to join the alliance after seeing strong support from the public and the backing from their respective governments.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters he welcomed the move, calling the countries the alliance’s “closest partners.”

“All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg said at a news conference. “We all agree that we must stand together. And we all agree that this is an historic moment, which we must seize.”

Their request must be approved by all of NATO’s 30 member countries, making Erdogan’s objection a potential headache.

“We have told our relevant friends we would say ‘no’ to Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, and we will continue on our path like this,” Erdogan said in a video statement on Thursday.

Erdogan has been critical of both countries, stating he perceives them as being supportive of groups Turkey views as extremist — including the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Both Sweden’s prime minister and Finland’s president addressed Turkey’s disapproval during their visit to the White House.

“Finland has always had proud and good bilateral relations to Turkey,” Niinistö said. “As NATO allies, we will commit to Turkey’s security, just as Turkey will commit to our security. We take terrorism seriously, we condemn terrorism in all its forms and we are actively engaged in combating it. We are open to discussing all the concerns Turkey may have concerning our membership in an open and constructive manner.”

Andersson said Sweden is having dialogues with all NATO members, Turkey included, to sort out any issues at hand.

Despite Turkey’s opposition, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks on Wednesday the administration is “confident at the end of the day” that Finland and Sweden “will have an effective and efficient accession process” and that “Turkey’s concerns can be addressed.”

Sullivan also warned that the U.S. “will not tolerate any aggression against Finland or Sweden” as their applications are being considered.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met in New York on Wednesday to “reaffirm their strong cooperation as partners and NATO allies,” according to a joint statement.

“They discussed ways and assessed concrete steps to enhance their cooperation on defense issues, counterterrorism, energy and food security, combatting climate change and boosting trade ties, while agreeing to intensify consultations on a range of regional issues,” the statement read.

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(WASHINGTON) — As so many parents still scour grocery shelves for baby formula the head of the Food and Drug Administration faced congressional lawmakers Thursday, amid the nationwide shortage that has ricocheted across the country and struck at the core of American families’ urgent need to feed their children.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf’s appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee comes just hours after President Joe Biden announced new steps to ramp up the federal response to the crisis, a problem that had been brewing for months.

On Wednesday evening, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to help expedite domestic manufacturing and allow military aircraft to fly formula into the U.S. from overseas. Yet, even with Biden’s action, top FDA officials have predicted that the the nation is still “weeks” away from seeing enough infant formula on the shelves.

It all comes as the administration faces mounting pressure from the American public clamoring for formula relief, with the issue used as a political cudgel by Republicans — and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle questioning whether the FDA responded with sufficient transparency and efficiency.

The critical shortage has been fueled by a perfect storm of circumstances, including pandemic supply chain disruptions, and the largest domestic formula manufacturer’s plant being shut down in February, following contamination issues at the factory which had been linked to four infants being hospitalized with a rare but serious bacterial infection, two of whom ultimately died.

Califf was expected to face tough scrutiny over whether the agency prioritized getting Abbott’s plant back online, and why FDA did not act sooner to mitigate the looming supply shortages.

At the hearing, Appropriations Committee chair Rosa DeLauro D-Conn., underscored what she said was the need to “get to the bottom of FDA’s slow response, which contributed to product staying on the shelves, and in the homes of families the country over, potentially putting babies at risk and forcing parents to play a game of Russian Roulette that they did not know they were playing.”

“Why did the FDA not spring into action?” DeLauro said, pointing to the time it took for the agency to make the recall of several of Abbott’s brands, following reports of contamination at their plant and allegations of ongoing quality control concerns.

“It makes me question which side the FDA is on,” DeLauro said. “Are they on the side of Abbott, and industry, or on the side of the American consumer, in this case babies and their moms and dads?”

In his opening remarks Califf recognized American families’ anxieties at the shortage.

“We know many parents and caregivers are feeling frustrated,” Califf said. “This crisis has shown us the impact of having a single manufacturer cease production for a brief period, and unless we strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, we could be one natural disaster or quality mishap or cyber attack from being here again. I hope I can work with this committee to ensure we have the tools and resources we need moving forward.”

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(DALLAS) — Former President George W. Bush had a tongue-tied moment at a speech on Wednesday and millions on social media took notice.

When condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Bush mistakenly referred to the decision to launch an “unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq” before quickly correcting himself to say “Ukraine,” in what was a bungled criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The result is an absence of checks and balances in Russia, and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq,” said Bush, before catching himself and shaking his head. “I mean — of Ukraine.”

Realizing his mistake, Bush then appeared to say under his breath, “Correct.”

Bush made the comment in a speech at his presidential center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas on Wednesday during an event examining the future of American elections. After a pause, Bush blamed the mistake on his age and the audience laughed.

“Anyway, I’m 75,” he said.

But on Twitter, the reaction to Bush’s inadvertent reference to the most polarizing decision of his administration was mixed, as users revived criticism of his decision to invade and sarcastically riffed on his history of such slip-ups.

Former Rep. Joe Walsh, who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2020, tweeted as the clip swirled through social media: “All gaffes aside, George W Bush was wrong to invade Iraq. And Putin was wrong to invade Ukraine.”

Another user cracked that “Freud really stepped out of his grave to personally slap the ‘Iraq’ out of Bush’s mouth didn’t he.”

The mixup was widely seen. Since video of Bush’s speech was clipped and tweeted by Dallas News reporter Michael Williams on Wednesday, it has been viewed more than 17 million times.

In his Wednesday remarks, Bush also described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “cool little guy,” deeming him “the [Winston] Churchill of the 21st century.”

As president, Bush oversaw the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 — as part of the post-9/11 conflicts in the Middle East — under the pretext that the country was hiding weapons of mass destruction, or WMDs. Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, was deposed but no weapons were found, and the war officially lasted for nearly a decade.

While the Bush administration argued the fighting was necessary for national security even without the WMDs, it became increasingly unpopular at home. Thousands of U.S. service members and tens of thousands of civilians died.

Bush wrote in his post-White House memoir that he had a “sickening feeling” when he learned there were no WMDs in Iraq after their supposed existence was used as justification for the invasion. He told ABC News’ “World News Tonight” when leaving office in 2008 that the “biggest regret” of his presidency was what he called the “intelligence failure in Iraq.”

When pressed in that interview, Bush declined to “speculate” on whether he would still have gone to war if he knew Iraq didn’t have WMDs. “That is a do-over that I can’t do,” he said.

Nonetheless, he wrote in his memoir, “I strongly believe that removing Saddam from power was the right decision.”

ABC News’ Chris Donovan contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is invoking the Defense Production Act to address the widespread shortage of baby formula, the White House announced Wednesday evening.

The move will get ingredients to manufacturers to help speed up production, the administration said.

“The President is requiring suppliers to direct needed resources to infant formula manufacturers before any other customer who may have ordered that good,” the White House said in a statement. “Directing firms to prioritize and allocate the production of key infant formula inputs will help increase production and speed up in supply chains.”

The president has also directed Department of Defense commercial aircraft to pick up infant formula overseas to get on U.S. shelves faster while U.S. manufacturers ramp up production, the White House said.

The ongoing baby formula crisis has triggered a public outcry from parents and lawmakers, as well as an investigation by the House Oversight Committee.

Biden called the formula shortage one of his “top priorities.”

“I know parents all across the country are worried about finding enough infant formula to feed their babies,” the president said in a video address announcing the administration’s latest steps. “As a parent and as a grandparent, I know just how stressful that is.”

Coronavirus-related supply chain issues helped fuel the shortage, which was worsened by a recall from Abbott Nutrition, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of baby formula products. The company closed its manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan, in February over concerns about bacterial contamination after four infants fell ill.

Abbott maintains there is still no conclusive evidence linking its formula to the four infant illnesses, which included two deaths.

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration said it has agreed with Abbott on a plan to reopen its Sturgis plant. Abbott said it could restart operations there within two weeks, and that it would take six to eight weeks before the product is back on shelves.

The FDA also announced on Monday that it is easing import restrictions on foreign-made infant formula. The U.S. normally produces 98% of the infant formula it consumes, according to the FDA.

The Biden administration said it will focus on transporting overseas infant formula that has met FDA safety standards.

It is unclear how soon customers will see an impact on store shelves. Susan Mayne, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said Monday that it could take weeks to get imported product into the market.

The White House said Wednesday it was working to get more formula to stores “as soon as possible.”

Later Wednesday, the House voted 414-9 across bipartisan lines on a measure to make it easier for recipients of the Women, Infants and Children federal nutrition program to use their benefits to purchase infant formula amid the ongoing national shortage.

It would also allow recipients to use their benefits to purchase an expanded range of formulas in future public health emergencies or supply chain disruptions identified by the Department of Agriculture.

The chamber also approved a second measure, largely along party lines, to boost funding for the Food and Drug Administration by $28 million to help the agency better regulate and oversee the infant formula industry.

The vote was 231-192, with a dozen Republicans voting with Democrats on approval.

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